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A friend of mine wrote this letter to her adopted newborn son & allowed me to share it with y’all. It is so heart-warming & sweet.

Dearest little man,

I have not been writing as I should. Our day to day lives are wrapped around “YOU” and we are loving every moment of it. We have so much to be thankful for. You are officially ours in EVERY capacity.

December 5th 2013 was our official ADOPTION DAY. There will be so many days to celebrate now. I have always loved Christmas but it is now officially the best holiday season ever. On the day we were officially declared a family we rushed to to the offices of your dad’s dear friend. He couldn’t be the one to officially witness it but to be there was none-the-less special.

We received a text from our lawyer the night before asking if we could conference into the judge’s office the next day at 11am. A rush of emotions flooded through us, Relief that it was finally here, butterflies b/c it was FINALLY happening, and tears b/c we had been praying and fasting that we could be able to get the adoption finalized soon. We fasted Sunday the 1st and got the text 3 days later. I cried.

We were SOOO excited. You were already deeply imbedded into our hearts but it would all be legal. No worries b/c it was official. MaMa went to into heavy work load to prepare for the next amazing part of our lives. Our family Sealing. I wanted it to be special for everyone. I wanted the spirit to be felt b/c no one else in my family has got to experience being sealed to their children here on earth. B/c you are so special in how you were brought to us we got the extra special privilege to be sealed as a family here on earth and FEEL at that same moment the spiritual blessings Heavenly Father has promised us. We sat across the altar and held hands. And you…you were sooo good. You looked around for a bit but your eyes kept coming back to your Father. And when we were sealed we stood up and looked into the mirrors to see forever and what it would be like in the eternities. And then the officiator had all our friends and families stand up. Everyone gazing with us into the mirror. He said imagine this is what heaven will look like when we are all together. It was an amazing feeling.

There standing before the mirror was Heavenly Father’s promise to us. We can all be together if we remain faithful, if we strive to do the things he asks of us we can have all that and more. We have waited forever for you. Every moment worth it. You are my whole heart little man. You make my whole world brighter. Last night was a difficult night for you. You have those nights every once in awhile. You will wake up and cry. I will rock and you and lay you down but you wake up again. As if you need some reassuring embrace. I pick you up and you lay your head down on me, and I press my check against your cool one, and you calm down, and go back to sleep. I try to lay you down again but that is not what you want. And I am ok with that. So I brought you to bed with me. Snuggling in, I know these moments will be gone soon.

You will grow and become independent and not need me so much. I know God gives us such moments to remind us of his love. I know I will fall in love over and over and over again with all the different parts of you that you will grow up to be. The parts that will create the man you will become. So I did not mind, last night, how often you woke up b/c I knew you needed me. And I relished in the moments I held you and felt your tiny breaths on my face.

I finally put you to bed at 1am and you slipped back into slumber and were ok in your bed without my touch. And I sent a thankful prayer to my Father in Heaven. And I made sure to thank your birth mother for these moments. B/c I know her arms are empty and her heart still aches. I will always have this battle in my heart…taking in those tender moments with a full heart and hurting at the same time for the mother who misses you.

God knows us so well. So I know he is watching over your birth mother and blessing her with all the comfort and love she needs. But I know there is always an ache in her heart so I love you all the more for her too. And now I hear you waking from your nap. It is always the best feeling to walk in and see your big smiles when I come to rescue you. So I am on my way love. I always will be.

Sweet Sealings and Blessings Copyright Bethney Backhaus Photography

4 months

2 weeks old- I love it despite that it is not in focus. My husband did try. Probably the best way to capture what the first few weeks were like. A hazy blur of wonder

Time is moving way too fast.I am grateful to be able to capture such fleeting moments.

Why Hello! I'm a missionary for the LDS church in Northern Florida! I love my family & all the wild times we have together. I love art, food & music. And I really love this church, which is all about families!